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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27704417">Where Daylight Begins</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HakureiRyuu/pseuds/HakureiRyuu'>HakureiRyuu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Nomura it's really not that hard to make Kairi an actual human person with agency and dignity, here watch I'll show you, while still keeping to the plot you originally planned</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 04:22:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27704417</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HakureiRyuu/pseuds/HakureiRyuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I am so proud of you,” Riku says simply.</p>
<p>There’s a whole universe of meaning in those words. For now, all Kairi can offer in return are these:</p>
<p>“Take care of him.”</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>A better ending to Melody of Memory.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi &amp; Riku (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Where Daylight Begins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Fear is the brightest of signs,<br/>The shape of the boundary you leave behind.<br/>So sing all your questions to sleep.<br/>The answers are out there in the drowning deep.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The star’s portal shines pink and glittering, and Kairi feels herself freeze. She wasn’t there to see the portal made from Xehanort’s heart, but this one feels like just as much of a bad omen. Like the crystalline pink of Kairi’s own shattered heart that Sora shattered himself trying to save. Like blame.</p>
<p>
  <em> (chasing those scattered petals across the Final world in hope, but reaching them caused her nothing but pain) </em>
</p>
<p>“I’m afraid this is as much as I can do,” says the fairy godmother. “It’s up to you, Riku, to take care of the rest.”</p>
<p>Riku’s back straightens, that same determined glint in his eyes that Kairi knows so well. It scared her, once upon a time, how badly he wanted to abandon everything they knew. He’s grown so much since then, and Kairi... she’s barely grown at all. Still stinging from the shame of her defeat, still angry at the people who throw the life she’s come to hold so dear into a blender time and again. </p>
<p>
  <em> (“Your task will be far from easy. We will have failed.”) </em>
</p>
<p>We.</p>
<p>As though she was complicit. A willing participant in her own abduction, in cahoots with the man who stole her away from her family, stole her <em> identity. </em> When had she ever been in control of <em> anything? </em></p>
<p>“Kairi?”</p>
<p>She looks up with a sharp breath. She hadn’t realized Riku was speaking. He’s looking at her now, features soft with concern and, perhaps, a question.</p>
<p>His hand is outstretched toward her, and Kairi feels the air leave her lungs as though punched out of her.</p>
<p>Riku wants her with him.</p>
<p>After <em> everything, </em> he still wants her at his side, at <em> Sora’s </em> side. He wants them to find Sora together.</p>
<p>Oh. <em> Oh, </em> but she wants to. Beyond all else, eclipsing everything that could possibly matter. She’s never wanted anything more.</p>
<p>
  <em> (“I may cause you to suffer, but I am a product of your heart.”) </em>
</p>
<p>She can’t.</p>
<p>A frown gathers between Riku’s brows as he waits. So patient with her, always. “Are you ready?”</p>
<p>Kairi’s eyes burn. Her hands fist at her sides. “I thought I was,” she whispers, “when we went to the Keyblade Graveyard. And look what happened.”</p>
<p>Riku’s eyes widen. She’s never talked about this, not in the entire time Sora’s been missing. He steps a bit closer, between Kairi and the godmother, who politely turns her back.</p>
<p>“You know it’s not ‒” Riku starts.</p>
<p>“I know,” says Kairi. She starts to smile. “But it would be, if it happened again and I didn’t do anything in the meanwhile to prevent it.”</p>
<p>Xehanort is to blame. There was never a doubt in her mind, and Kairi has spent the last year as <em> furious </em> as she was brokenhearted. But there’s no other way around it. </p>
<p>“I have to get stronger,” Kairi asserts. “Better. One day I’ll be able to stand with you, but until then ‒ I can’t risk it. Not with your lives on the line if you protect me.”</p>
<p>Riku faces her, pained. “Maybe,” he reluctantly concedes, “maybe we pushed you a little too fast. But that doesn’t make you weak. When the chips were down, <em> you beat him. You </em> did that.”</p>
<p>“With Sora’s help...”</p>
<p>“You think that matters?” Riku waves a frustrated hand to emphasize his point. “How far do you think I would have gotten without Sora’s help? How far do you think either of us would have gotten without yours?”</p>
<p>Kairi takes a shuddering breath, unable to help the watery smile that blooms on her face. </p>
<p>Riku continues: “We asked so much of you with so little warning against impossible odds, and that’s on us. that’s on me.”</p>
<p>“In fairness, the forest was literally timeless.” Kairi’s trying to joke with him, but the stab of pain at the admission doesn’t take her entirely by surprise. “I ‒ I had all the time in the world to catch up to you and it still wasn’t enough. I’m not like you and Sora. I can't just work it out on my own, I need a real teacher.”</p>
<p>“So I'll teach you.”</p>
<p>“And look for Sora at the same time?”</p>
<p>“We’ll both ‒”</p>
<p><em> “Riku.” </em> Kairi could almost laugh. His reluctance makes something warm grow in warm chest, like breathing clean air for the first time in years. “You know I’m right,” she says, trying for flippant. It almost works, but for the way her voice quavers.</p>
<p>She’s spent so much time <em> missing </em> them.</p>
<p>Riku’s throat works like he wants to argue with her further. He looks back at the gleaming portal, swallows, and puts both hands on Kairi’s shoulders. The weight of them is firm, grounding. Like a promise.</p>
<p>“I am so proud of you,” he says simply.</p>
<p>There’s a whole universe of meaning in those words. For now, all Kairi can offer in return are these:</p>
<p>“Take care of him.”</p>
<p>Riku nods, aims Braveheart at the heart of the portal, and exits this reality with a smile.</p>
<p>‒</p>
<p>The fairy godmother wishes herself and Kairi back to Yen Sid’s tower, then leaves on other business. Kairi delivers her news, announces her plan, and waits for Donald and Goofy to arrive with Master Aqua.</p>
<p>Waiting, always waiting. Kairi’s known for a while that waiting isn’t good enough, but she’s taking steps to correct that now. This is what she's chosen to take control of. Her destiny <em>will</em> be her own, and if she has to fight for that, she will.</p>
<p>She’s spent so much time missing her loved ones, away from the storms they felt called to sail. <em> Choosing </em> to add to that is a unique test of her strength, but she can shoulder that weight. </p>
<p>There is not a single heart in the universe that’s stronger.</p>
<p>When Aqua arrives, it’s with a bright grin, matched by Kairi in its eagerness.</p>
<p>“We’ll start,” says the master to her new pupil, “with a keyblade glider.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Sail your sea, meet your storm -<br/></em>
  <em>The light in me will guide you home.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>So go far beyond where we stand.</em>
  <br/>
  <em>No matter the distance, I'm holding your hand.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>All I want is to be your harbor.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All lyrics and also the title are by Vienna Teng in her song "Harbor".</p></blockquote></div></div>
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